sunny yellow for a sunny day

sabin used her bunny money (the money she got from selling her baby bunnies) to buy a sunny yellow saddle pad and fleece legwraps to match. it made matilde look pretty and summery on a bright sunshiney day.

matilde is looking good

great investment has been made in matilde over the past year - chiropractors, massage, horse dentists, a saddle-fitter, a real wool lambskin pad, brand new shoes (she was in heat and hit on the horseshoer yesterday) and just last week, a new bridle. coupled with someone having more upper-body strength and longer legs, it's starting to pay off.

oh the joys of owning a horse

on tuesday, just in time for our weekly private lesson with sabin's riding instructor, i got an SMS from the stable that matilde was very lame and they weren't going to put her out in the paddock today. so i went right over. it was rather alarming as matilde was standing on her tippy toe with her left front and would hardly put any weight at all on it. we couldn't see anything wrong - no bone jutting out, no bumps, no swelling, no hot spots - it was seemingly nothing!

so i called the vet. happily, he was in the neighborhood and he came right away. he quickly diagnosed a hoof abscess. i'd never heard of such a thing - i think we were just lucky, as it's apparently quite common. he removed her shoe and tested to see where the worst of the pain was and then opened up her hoof to release the pus. dang is that a nasty smell. apparently the abscess is a long time in forming, but once it gets bad, it's extremely painful for the horse, because the hoof is so tough, there's nowhere for all that gunk to go. it was a relief that matilde wasn't just being a drama queen (which she has been known to be).

he said it was one of the deepest he'd seen and he didn't dare dig any more out of it, for fear of damaging the wall of her hoof. you can see the round hole he opened at the top of this photo. he packed the open spot with gauze and wrapped her entire hoof in gauze, tape, a plastic bag and more tape, so it was completely protected the first night. then he advised us to invest in a protective boot. this is how they look - the very height of horse fashion. i read a bit about them online and some people use them instead of shoes, tho' i'm not sure i'd do that, as i think if you rode a longer distance in such boots, it would begin to irritate around the coronet band.

on the second day, we removed his wrappings and soaked tilly's hoof in a buck of warm, soapy water for 15 minutes. i was worried she wouldn't go for that, but she actually seems to quite enjoy it - it's kind of a pampering pedicure and she stands patiently for it, like a good girl. bribery of carrots and treats helps.

then we fill the hole with some kind of blue iodine tincture and put her boot on. she can't go outside in the mud like she normally does, so we turn her out in the arena for a bit of exercise. on the first day, she was still lame, but already on day two, she appears to be back to herself (tho' we wouldn't yet chance it by riding her). she enjoys being in the arena by herself and it's perfect for a good roll. or two. or three.

i am always amazed at the capacity of horses to heal quickly. we'll be able to have the shoer in early next week to put her shoe back on and be back to riding her as normal. the boots were pretty expensive, but it seems to work really well as a protector and she isn't bothered by it, so we've felt it was a worthy investment. better than having to get a new horse or having her out of commission for a month! and if it ever happens again, we've got the boots - they come as a pair, so we've got two.

memory

this is memory

she's 8 now.

she's a norwegian trotting horse (norwegian standard bred?)

she's taller than she looks in these photos (16+ hands)

it got down to 0 degrees for about a week, so we got her a blanket.

she's only been driven, but hasn't been ridden.

she has a sweet, quiet manner, but it seems like she doesn't know much.

when the weather gets better, we'll start working with her. she is wondering where all of the other horses are. the neighbor has one, but he's been indoors in the snowy, slippery weather, as he's getting a bit old.  pinky will come home at the end of the month to keep her company.

pinky larew

trying out pinky at her old owner's house

short legs make for a bumpy trot.

out in the pasture at the riding school.

pinky apparently likes to roll in the mud.  and we've got plenty of that this year.

everyone needs a pony they can play with at some point. 

pinky horse and pinky girl (or at least pink jacket)

pony or piglet?

4th out of 12!

not great shots (it's just TOO DARK these days) - but it will give you an idea of the horse show.  Sabin competed in LD1 - a dressage pattern that you do at the trot and the walk.

far pinned on the pin in the wrong spot - i fixed it before she competed.

off down the center line - matilde looks grey with her new haircut.

i love the fresh cut on her tail as well - why didn't we do that? it looks so good with a blunt cut!

kind of a fast trot.

4th place of 12!

sabin ended up in fourth place overall (out of 12) - pretty good for the first time completing the class. one of the girls in her class was in her 20s! tho' it looks like a 6th place ribbon, it's actually 4th (everyone from 3rd and beyond get green in denmark). and best of all, she's already declared she wants to do it again!

sabin & matilde are ready for christmas

matilde's new haircut. 

and her reindeer ears!

they leave the furry bits where the saddle goes, to make it more comfortable.

hugs for tilly bear.

and a santa hat for the riding helmet.

love.

Little League Coaching - Fail

Dear Coach,

You whipped your email out last night too fast to really think over the things that happened at the baseball game.  You might have corrected some things if you'd just reviewed the things you typed.  But I understand.  You were in a hurry to get it all out. 

You completely failed the boys last night.  And that's okay.  You know that Steve and I were in your shoes last year.  We had one night of total failure, too.  It was miserable.

Your job is to lead and inspire the kids.  You think their bad attitudes came from being sopping wet?  Or being 15 points behind?  Or did their bad attitudes come from getting yelled at while they watched our pitcher throw ball after ball?  They stood in the rain and helplessly watched their opponents walk the bases and score 5 points to end each inning.

And you think an 8 year-old knows when he's supposed to run from 2nd base?  The ball was hit in the infield.  He didn't want to get out.  And you were standing there on your phone while he looked to you for base running advice.  I felt Finn's pain and really wanted the game to be over, too.  But we did discuss with him that you don't express such snotty sentiments.  It's not team spirit.  But you benched my sensitive kid while team morale was already at a low.  How do you think the other boys felt taking the field when you're busy yelling at one? 

I don't know if your house was on fire, but I'm not certain why your phone is even on when you're standing at 3rd base to coach the runners.  I was really embarrassed for you when I watched the opponent's coach walk in front of our fence to take the coach at 3rd base position.  He walked quietly by and picked up all of the bats strewn out in front of our dugout.  He placed them behind the fence and then waited for you to finish your call. 

Our pitchers need to warm up.  They need coaching before they're trying to perform under pressure.  You're totally failing them.  I've politely volunteered to help.  You called me a typical woman.  Last year, I invited all of my pitchers and potential pitchers to a Saturday afternoon pitching workshop.  Not once did Steve ask during a game, "How is he holding the ball?"  That's a question for practice time.  The already-under-pressure pitcher hears that question and loses all confidence.  I hope you'll think about the effect your remarks have on your boys. 

And that leads me to the best news of the whole night.  You seemed to take my comments to heart and you went back out there with numerous positive and encouraging instructions for the boys.  You brought them together, put their hands in a circle and shouted the team's name.  They loved that.  They crave leadership and inspiration.  And they will mirror your attitude every single time. 

Steve wants to give up on this league.  He and Finn have a hard time enduring what's going on.  But neither of us is interested in teaching our boys that's it's easy to quit a team sport. 

We discussed this topic at length.  I feel that we paid a fee for these boys to participate on this team so they could learn and have fun.  Those are our two primary objectives.  If there is still a chance for both of those things this season, then our boys will be at every practice and game.  If we feel that those two things aren't also the objective of the team, then we'll reconsider our decision. 

I am sorry I engaged in argument with you during the game.  I'm sorry I quit keeping score.  I don't expect to wind up being best buddies with you.  But I do want what's best for all of the boys.  And typical woman or not, my offer for assistance with pitching still stands. 

Regards, Monica

big girl

shots of a rather big girl with a big camera on a sunny weekend day. these were taken by her big sister, karoline. i think we'll probably make her go around with bricks on her head to try to keep her from growing, since she's growing up way too fast.